CRICKET
Sri Lanka begin reply
Sri Lanka reached 229-3 on day 3 of the first Test, but were still 312 runs behind after Bangladesh declared early in the day on 541-7. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne was on 85 not out alongside Dhananjaya de Silva (26 not out) as the hosts failed to capitalize on their starts in Kandy, with the batsmen out Lahiru Thirimanne (58), Oshada Fernando (20) and Angelo Mathews (25).
CRICKET
Padikkal impresses
Devdutt Padikkal seems to have impressed two of the most important figures in Indian cricket after the opener’s whirlwind century on Thursday powered the Royal Challengers Bangalore to their fourth successive win in the Indian Premier League. Virat Kohli, captain of India and Bangalore, and national coach Ravi Shastri were blown away by the lanky opener as he stroked an unbeaten 101 off 52 deliveries to fire his side to a 10-wicket victory against former champions the Rajasthan Royals. The left-hander dominated his unbeaten 181-run stand with Kohli, who made 72 not out and marveled at the “outstanding innings” of his opening partner. “The pitch was great to bat on, but he did pick the right areas to hit and once he got going he was almost impossible to stop him,” Kohli said at the presentation ceremony. “Great talent, great one to watch out for in the future... I had the best seat in the house and thoroughly enjoyed his innings.” Padikkal belted six sixes as Bangalore romped home with 21 deliveries to spare. India coach Shastri was impressed by how the 20-year-old held his own during the partnership with his captain. “The student and the master at work. Fabulous viewing. These southpaws make it look easy,” Shastri wrote on Twitter.
EQUESTRIAN
US showjumper banned
US showjumper Andrew Kocher on Thursday was banned for 10 years by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) for using electric spurs on horses, the US federation “unequivocally” supporting the punishment. The international body had opened an investigation of Kocher in June last year after an allegation that he had used spurs that delivered an electric shock was reported to the independent Equestrian Community Integrity Unit. “It was alleged that Mr Kocher had used electric spurs on a number of FEI registered and national horses in international and national events, and during training,” the international federation said in a statement. Formal disciplinary proceedings were launched in October last year, when Kocher was provisionally suspended. His term of suspension is therefore deemed to have started on Oct. 28 last year and runs through Oct. 27, 2030. During his suspension, Kocher is barred from participating in or attending, in any capacity, including as a spectator, any competition or event that is authorized or organized by the FEI or any national federation. “The United States Equestrian Federation unequivocally supports the decision of the FEI Tribunal to suspend athlete Andrew Kocher for 10 years and disqualify his results from eight events between June 2018 and November 2019 for the use of electric spurs,” the US federation said in a statement. Kocher, who has denied using electric shock devices on his horses, has 21 days to appeal the sanction.
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
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